62 Songs About Needing Someone

We all need love and affection. If you have found that special someone, let them know how much you need them with a playlist of pop, rock, R&B, and country songs.
Moni Sertel via Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0, modified by FlourishAnyway
Everyone Needs Love
My great-grandmother used to say that there ain't a pot too crooked that there ain't a lid to fit it. There's someone for everyone.
If you've found that someone special you need in your life, then congratulations. May they make you a better person. Now, invest the time to express how much you care. They need to hear it.
A custom playlist can help you celebrate how much you need one another. Choose from our long list of pop, rock, R&B, and country songs below.
1. "I Need Your Love" by Calvin Harris (Featuring Ellie Goulding)
When the world is falling apart, the narrator's sweetheart puts the pieces back together again and makes everything right. This 2012 pop song has an electrobeat and features a narrator whose relationship with her lover has frayed. She beckons for his love, time, and physical affection.
2. "Need You" by Travie McCoy
The man in this 2010 pop song was hurt by a previous lover. As a result, he needs understanding and trust before he can get close to the next romantic partner. Although he wants to give his new girlfriend the key to the lock-tight safe where he hides his fragile heart, he doesn't know how to open up to the woman whose love he needs.
3. "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops
This guy's lover left him, and now he's faced with empty nights and days filled with misery. The narrator in this 1964 R&B song begs for sweet mercy. He can't go on like this without his lady and needs her to return to him.
4. "All I Ever Need" by Austin Mahone
The narrator in this R&B song from 2014 provides loving reassurances to his partner that he'll always be right by her side. He says that she is a necessity, she is an angel and his "everything," and he desperately needs her in his life. That's a whole lot to live up to, do you think?
How Long Can You Live Without These Essential Needs?
Essential Need | Approximate Survival TIme Without It |
---|---|
Oxygen | After about 6 minutes, the brain begins to die. |
Water | After about 3 days (although some people have survived 8–10 days) |
Sleep | The immune system is negatively affected after only 1–2 days. After 2–3 days without sleep, hallucinations set in, then you can die after 11 days without sleep. |
Food | About 3 weeks, although individual survival depend on one's size, hydration status, and activity level |
Human Contact | Even after only a few hours, social atrophy begins when contact with others is imposed. Over periods of weeks, individuals experience chronic apathy, lethargy, depression and despair. They lose track of time, their sleep patterns are disrupted, and they may hallucinate. It is unknown how long they can survive. |
5. "(I Need You Now) More Than Words Can Say" by Alias
It's 6 o'clock in the morning, and the guy in this 1990 pop song finds himself still thinking about the lover who has left him. He sleeps alone now and worries that it's too late for love. In a desperate attempt to reach out to her, he tries to let her know he needs her now more than ever.

"Life doesn't make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all." - Dr. Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist
zelah_w via Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0, modified by FlourishAnyway
6. "All I Need Is a Miracle" by Mike + the Mechanics
This peppy 1985 rock song features a guy who didn't care enough about his partner when they were together. However, now that she has ditched him, he regrets intentionally hurting her and treating her like a child.
He confesses that he needs a miracle to get her back in his life and make it right:
If I ever catch up with you
I'm gonna love you for the rest of your life.
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle) . . .
7. "Need You Now" by Lady A
Some people cringe with recognition when they hear this 2010 Grammy Award-winning song, and others just cringe. Too much whiskey and an abundance of memories of a broken relationship spell trouble for this drunk-dialing lady. (If she needs anything, but it's probably just to sleep off the whiskey.)
The photos and loneliness are fixin' to overwhelm her as she reaches out to her ex-lover (don't do it!):
It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk, and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call, but I've lost all control, and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without.
I just need you now.

"Strong men—men who are truly role models—don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful. People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together." —Michelle Obama, former First Lady
photosteve101 via Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0, modified by FlourishAnyway
8. "Just When I Needed You Most" by Vanwarmer
Don't get me wrong. I love this mournful soft rock song from 1976 about a guy whose partner up and left him when he needed her. But I think I understand why she left; he does an awful lot of blaming and complaining. He's one of those people who is a bottomless pit of needs:
But I miss you more than I
Missed you before and now
Where I'll find comfort, God knows
'Cause you left me
Just when I needed you most.
9. "I Need You" by Tim McGraw (Featuring Faith Hill)
When country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw met in 1996, she was his opening act. Hill was engaged to a record producer at the time, and he had just broken off an engagement. They fell hard for one another and married later that year.
Since then, they seem more like besotted teens than a long-married couple with three daughters. It's therefore no wonder that this 2007 song describes the intensity of love between two partners as a matter of mutual need:
Like a needle needs a vein
Like my Uncle Joe in Oklahoma needs the rain
I need you
Like a lighthouse on the coast
Like the Father and the Son need the Holy Ghost
I need you.
10. "If I Needed You" by Don Williams (Featuring Emmylou Harris)
This country song from 1981 is ethereal in its description of two lovers who each need one other and lend mutual comfort. Each trades assurances that they'd go to great lengths to ease the pain of the other.
11. "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" by Ray Parker, Jr.
The guy in this 1981 pop song warns that women need love just like men do, and if they don't get the affection they need, they'll find it outside of the relationship.
Don't kid yourself into thinking that you're the only one who can fool around, the narrator warns. If you're wondering where partners are most likely to find relationships outside of marriage, it's at work. About 60% of affairs begin in the workplace.
12. "Need to Be Next to You" by Sara Evans
In this 2008 country song, the protagonist acknowledges that after trying to deny feelings for her partner for so long, she now realizes how much she needs him. She gushes that she needs his smile each morning for the rest of her life.
13. "When I Need You" by Rod Stewart
Leo Sayer was the guy who originally released this soft rock song in 1977, and it was Rod Stewart who sang it best with his 1996 version. The song displays raw emotional honesty and a narrator's longing for his lover from whom he is separated by distance.
More than anything, he yearns to be with her:
When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away.

"A baby is born with a need to be loved—and never outgrows it." —Frank A. Clark, American politician
Marco via Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0, modified by FlourishAnyway
14. "Need U Bad" by Jazmine Sullivan
The narrator makes one little relationship mistake and her lover wants to call it quits. She doesn't understand that. In this 2008 R&B song with reggae influences, the narrator has come to realize that she needs her partner in her life. Nevermind that cheating stuff. She didn't mean it.
16. "All the Man That I Need" by Whitney Houston
This 1990 R&B pop song became a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston, and you can't help but imagine that she was singing about Bobby Brown at that time. The two singers met in 1989 and became tragically involved in what later became a disastrous marriage fraught with allegations of drug abuse and violence.
This song, however, highlights the positive that the narrator sees in her man:
He fills me up
He gives me love
More love than I've ever seen
He's all I've got,
He's all I've got in this world.
But he's all the man that I need.
15. "Something I Need" by OneRepublic
The guy in this upbeat 2013 pop song has an unusual way of expressing to his partner that he needs her. He tells her that if he only dies once, he wants to die with her. The song failed to chart in the United States but performed well in other countries.
17. "I Need You" by LeAnn Rimes
There is beautiful poetry in this country song from 1998 wherein a woman describes just how much she needs the man in her life:
I need you like water
Like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy
From heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms
That carries me through
I need you.
18. "Need You Tonight" by INXS
This 1987 pop song is full of raw energy and sensuality. The narrator issues an invitation to a woman he is attracted to for bodily companionship, telling her, "You're one of my kind." Don't try this at home.
19. "All I Need" by Jack Wagner
Jack Wagner was a one-hit wonder with this 1984 love song, but give him some slack. It was a good one. The pop song describes a man who wasn't looking for love when he first kissed his sweetie, but unexpectedly he found it. Now he just requires some time to digest the predicament he finds himself in, as he claims that she is all he needs.
20. "I Need to Know" by Kris Allen
This 2009 pop song describes a man's feelings of being lost in both a relationship and in life. He needs to know where he stands in both, and he begs for clear direction. Kris Allen was the winner of the eighth season of American Idol, but we haven't heard much from him since 2012.

"Never ignore someone who loves you and cares about you. 'Cause one day you may realize you lost the moon while counting stars." —John O'Callaghan, Irish musician
Chiara Cremaschi via Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0
Even More Songs About Needing Someone
Song | Artist | Year Released |
---|---|---|
21. "Need Someone" | Mary J. Blige | 2011 |
22. "You Needed Me" | Anne Murray | 1978 |
23. "Love Is All You Need" | The Beatles | 1967 |
24. "I Don't Need You" | Kenny Rogers | 1981 |
25. "I Need You" | America | 1971 |
26. "The Way That I Need You" | Passenger (Featuring The Once) | 2013 |
27. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" | Solomon Burke | 1964 |
28. "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" | Elvis Presley | 1956 |
29. "I Need My Girl" | The National | 2014 |
30. "All I Need" | The-Dream | 2015 |
31. "Slow Hand" | The Pointer Sisters | 1981 |
32. "I Need My Girl" | Blake Shelton | 2014 |
33. "Until You're Mine" | Demi Lovato | 2008 |
34. "All I Need" | Christina Aguilera | 2010 |
35. "Need You More" | Darius Rucker | 2015 |
36. "Everybody Needs Love" | Drive-By Truckers | 2011 |
37. "All I Need" | Radiohead | 2007 |
38. "All I Need Is You" | Lecrae | 2014 |
39. "All I Ever Need Is You" | Sonny & Cher | 1971 |
40. "Everybody Needs Love" | Jennifer Hudson | 2011 |
41. "All I Need Is You" | Teddy Pendergrass | 1979 |
42. "All I Want All I Need" | Whitesnake | 2008 |
43. "I Need You Now" | Agnes | 2008 |
44. "I Need You Tonight" | ZZ Top | 1983 |
45. "You're All I Need" | White Lion | 1991 |
46. "You Can't Hurry Love" | Phil Collins | 1982 |
47. "Unchained Melody" | Righteous Brothers | 1965 |
48. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" | Smokey Robinson & The Miracles | 1962 |
49. "Need Ur Love" | Charli XCX | 2014 |
50. "Make Me Cry" | Noah Cyrus (Featuring Labyrinth) | 2016 |
51. "Don't Let Me Down" | The Chainsmokers (Featuring Daya) | 2016 |
52. "I Want You to Want Me" | Cheap Trick | 1978 |
53. "Me Without You" | TobyMac | 2012 |
54. "Flight" | Lifehouse | 2014 |
55. "Song #3" | Stone Sour | 2017 |
56. "I Need Your Love" | The Metallics | 1962 |
57. "I Need You" | Jesse Boykins III | 2016 |
58. "Hey Girl" | Isaac Hayes | 1986 |
59. "Everytime" | Britney Spears | 2004 |
60. "I Need You" | The Beatles | 1965 |
61. "Here With Me" | Marshmello (Featuring CHVRCHES) | 2019 |
62. "I Need You" | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 1974 |
© 2017 FlourishAnyway
Comments
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on July 21, 2020:
Vanessa - Thanks for the suggestion which I added. Be healthy and happy.
Vanessa on July 20, 2020:
I need you. Lynyrd skynyrd
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on April 21, 2020:
Peggy - That's such a great saying that it must've traveled far and wide! Thanks for stopping by.
Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on April 20, 2020:
Everyone needs to feel loved. My mother had a variation of what your great-grandmother used to say. It was this: "There is a cover for every pot." Or another one meant to be an encouraging set of words: "There are plenty of fish in the sea." Ha!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 24, 2020:
Maskedmarlin - I'm sorry this has been your experience in love so far, but I encourage you to work on yourself and your own happiness before you seek to share yourself with someone else. You are a gift that you give the world. Make it the brightest, shiniest, best version of yourself you can. You just haven't met the person for you. True love is mutual.
My great-grandmother, by the way, was a woman who married a divorced man back when that was scandalous. However, he was the one who made her heart tick and they were married all their lives. You'll likewise find that special someone. Sometimes we can be so caught up in missing the wrong one that we can't look at what's in front of us. Stop living in the past and embrace your future. I wish you love, first of all to yourself.
Maskedmarlin on March 24, 2020:
that comment about what your grandma said. (great-grandmother used to say that there ain't a pot too crooked that there ain't a lid to fit it. There's someone for everyone) wish that was true i don't think any one was made for me. i met someone that made my world disappear. she was all i thought about all day couldn't wait to see again didn't want to do anything but be with her she completed me. showed me a world like i never new. and i still miss her 2 years later and i still cry every day and night. because just like every one else she didn't love me.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on January 28, 2020:
MG Singh - Thank you for your kind comment. Have a fabulous week.
MG Singh emge from Singapore on January 27, 2020:
This is an awesome collection and I am delighted with it. Thank you
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on September 16, 2019:
Jimmy - I would add this to Songs About Missing Someone You Love, but it's already there. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.
jimmy on September 11, 2019:
sorry i suggested everytime twice! A song that deserves to be on there is when you're gone by avril lavinge (2007)
jimmy on September 11, 2019:
everytime by britney spears (2004) is her singing about her ex boyfriend justin timberlake and how shes nothing without him and she needs him and would be perfect on this list!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on September 05, 2019:
Ian Lamond - Thank you for the suggestion which I added at #60. Have a terrific weekend.
IAN LAMOND on September 04, 2019:
i need you george harrison the beatles , classic
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on September 01, 2019:
Jimmy - Thanks for the suggestion which I am adding. I appreciate you!
jimmy on September 01, 2019:
everytime by britney spears (2004) definitely deserves a spot on there!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on April 27, 2019:
Zoe - Thanks for the song recommendations. I've added them. Have a super weekend.
Zoe on April 25, 2019:
Ike's Rap VIII/Hey Girl by Isaac Hayes
I need you by Jesse Boykins III
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on January 05, 2018:
Mary Sue - The Chainsmokers' song has been added as #51. Thanks and have a terrific 2018.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 23, 2017:
eLarry - It's important to take a break when needed. Hope you are well. Thanks for stopping by.
Larry Rankin from Oklahoma on March 23, 2017:
Been on vacation due to creative burnout. Playing catchup here. Another wonderful article:-)
Saw the title and immediately thought of the Blues Brothers singing "I need you, you, you..."
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 22, 2017:
Rasma - Some people are a bundle full of needs! Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely week.
Gypsy Rose Lee from Daytona Beach, Florida on March 22, 2017:
I admire how you put it all together. So much needing going on. Many favorite songs.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 21, 2017:
Genna - Although I enjoyed the Leo Sayer version, Rod Stewart did a fantastic job. I love his voice so much. Plus, Leo Sayer reminds me so much of a young Richard Simmons. It's just me, I guess. I almost expect him to to start doing some sweatin' to the oldies exercises to this tune. Thanks for commenting.
Genna East from Massachusetts, USA on March 21, 2017:
Wow...this is wonderful! I can't pick a favorite, Flourish, although I'm leaning with the Rod Stewart rendition. Thank you for sharing the music.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 20, 2017:
Nithya - Thank you for your kind support. I'm glad you enjoyed this.
Nithya Venkat from Dubai on March 20, 2017:
There is someone for everyone, so true. Another great custom playlist, a great selection of songs.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 18, 2017:
Jo - That's an excellent suggestion! I've added it at #47. Thanks so much! Hope you are doing super.
Jo Miller from Tennessee on March 18, 2017:
I immediately thought of "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Bros. No song has ever captured neediness more for me.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 18, 2017:
Linda - Thank you for the nice compliment. Glad you enjoyed it!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 18, 2017:
Frances - I hope you are always as happy as you are now. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.
Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on March 17, 2017:
I always like the way in which you mix facts about music with related facts in your playlist articles. Thanks for another enjoyable and informative article, Flourish.
Frances Metcalfe on March 17, 2017:
I do love your hubs Flourish! I'm one of the lucky ones, have a wonderful partner and still having fun and silliness (essential to keep it fresh and alive) after 12 years.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 17, 2017:
MsDora - Thank you! Have a wonderful weekend!
Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on March 17, 2017:
Never underestimate the need for love. Thanks for also including the facts on our essential needs and the consequences of not having those needs met. Good information!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 16, 2017:
Devika - Glad to hear from you. You're right about people needing one another. Hope you are well.
Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on March 16, 2017:
I like the list of songs and most people can feel close to one another. Songs make one feel sad and happy but a good pass time for me.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 15, 2017:
Catherine - I agree! You can sustain a person only so much on food and water, but we all need love. Thank you for reading!
Catherine Giordano from Orlando Florida on March 15, 2017:
It was such a great idea to compare the need for love to the need to water, food etc. Another great playlist.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 15, 2017:
Heidi - Yes, those survival stats emphasize the need for first aid, CPR, AED training but also for hugs and positive interaction. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful rest of your week.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 15, 2017:
Kyriaki - I hope you are doing well. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words of support. Glad you liked the playlist!
Catherine Giordano from Orlando Florida on March 15, 2017:
Love is a need almost as much as food, water, etc. It was very appropriate that you put the other basic needs into the mix.
Heidi Thorne from Chicago Area on March 15, 2017:
That song by America came into my head as soon as I saw the title of your playlist. But what I really thought was amazing was the stats in the list of things like oxygen. Wow!
Kyriaki Chatzi on March 15, 2017:
Hey, Flourish! That's a truly impressive and touching playlist for those melancholic evenings when a S.O. is wandering our minds but not the hallways.
Thank you so much for sharing!
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 15, 2017:
Terrie Lynn - I'm so glad you enjoyed this. Don't skip the sleep! Thanks for reading.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 15, 2017:
Linda - That's such a beautiful description of a long marriage to someone you treasure. I understand the feeling. Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your life with us. May you both have many more happy years together.
Linda Lum from Washington State, USA on March 14, 2017:
The moment I read this title and intro, your #3 song popped into my mind. I love this article!
My husband and I will be celebrating our 36th anniversary in just a few months. Both of us are retired, and so that means a LOT of time spent together under the same roof. Fun thing though is that we don't actually do a lot together. We go for a walk every day, and have dinner together in the evening, but other than that we both have our "things" that we work on.
Nevertheless, there is comfort for me in knowing that he is there. When he is away from the house, even just on a simple errand, I feel a little emptiness that doesn't erase until I hear the crunch of the gravel as his truck pulls back into the driveway.
Terrie Lynn from Canada on March 14, 2017:
You did it again. Great songs and memories. We all need somebody to love. I love it. Now I need some sleep, my brain will be playing some of these songs, lol. Oh well,who needs sleep anyway.
FlourishAnyway (author) from USA on March 14, 2017:
Bill - Codger or not, it's good you enjoy music. Music keeps us young. It keeps us moving. Have a great day!
Bill Holland from Olympia, WA on March 14, 2017:
I'm dating myself...The Beatles "If I Needed Someone" first came to mind....but then I thought of Lady Antebellum, so not bad for an old codger. :)